The present invention relates to failure detection in auditory response stimulators, and more particularly to closed-loop feedback systems and methods for failure detection and reporting in auditory response stimulators. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to closed-loop feedback subsystems for detecting failure in hearing aides and cochlear implants, and for reporting such failure.
Over the past several years medical science has made great strides to improve the hearing assistance available to both partially deaf and profoundly deaf individuals. For example, individuals who were once completely unable to hear now may be able to hear with the aid of a specialized neural stimulation device referred to herein as a cochlear stimulator. Cochlear stimulators typically include a microphone and a signal processor. The microphone detects pressure waves or audio signals and the signal processor processes the detected pressure waves and generates a stimulation signal in response thereto. The stimulation signal is passed through the skin of the individual using a transcutaneous electromagnetically coupled transmitter/receiver coil pair. The stimulation signal is then further processed within the body and passed to an intracochlear electrode, which passes an electrical current to the auditory nerve within the cochlea of the individual. As a result, the individual experiences a hearing sensation or auditory sensation.
Similarly, individuals who are partially deaf, or hard of hearing, are now able to hear through the use of amplifier-type hearing aids. In such devices, pressure waves or audio signals are detected by a microphone that is typically housed in a package that is fitted into the outer ear canal, or behind the pinna (or auricle). The microphone detects pressure waves or acoustic signals and an amplifier within the housing amplifies the pressure waves in the form of a stimulation signal. The stimulation signal is passed to a speaker that is positioned within the outer ear canal and stimulation waves, i.e., amplified sounds, are generated in response thereto. The stimulation waves are directed down the outer ear canal and impact upon the tympanic membrane, tympanum, or eardrum.
Devices for stimulating hearing or auditory sensations are referred to herein generally as auditory response stimulation systems.
These devices and others have now made it possible for children and adults, who once required specialized teaching environments in order to receive educational instruction, to receive their education along with hearing students in a conventional classroom environment. Unfortunately, however, currently available devices for stimulating a hearing sensation in partially or profoundly deaf individuals are prone to occasional malfunction or failures, which result in a partial or complete loss of the individual's hearing. Such malfunction can be as a result of, e.g., component failure, decoupling of the transcutaneous electromagnetic coupling of the cochlear implant, or voltages or currents being supplied to intracochlear stimulation electrodes that are below a prescribed threshold. Such malfunction often goes undetected by the partially or profoundly deaf individual, because he or she does not hear when the apparatus is malfunctioning.
Thus, what is needed is a way to detect such malfunctions and to make these malfunctions known to the partially or profoundly deaf individual, or to, e.g., an instructor or lecturer who is leading the educational instruction or delivering a speech.